Page 145 of Samuel

“You got your gun on you?”

Sam shook his head. And as much as he wished he was lying, he wasn’t. Abby hadn’t wanted the guys to carry at the wedding. The only person that he knew ignored that request, for sure, was Hank.

“Turn around and show me.”

He turned slowly, allowing Derrick to see he was telling the truth.

“I’m unarmed. Please put down the gun. I just want Evie and the baby to be safe.”

“I can’t. This is the only way I can think to do this…”

“What exactly is this?” Jake asked.

“You…” Derrick pointed the gun back at Jake. “Don’t. Speak. And you, Boss Man…. Well, you took something from me. It’s only fair I take something of yours.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Sam’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. “But you are fucking crazy if you think I’m going to let you stand there pointing a gun at my woman and child. She just gave birth, Derrick! Whatever the fuck this is about can wait.”

“Sam, you have to calm down,” Evie whispered.

“I’d listen to your missus if I were you.” Derrick smirked but Sam saw how awful he looked. Dark circles under his eyes. Pale skin. His beard had grown out in the few days he’d been away.

“My sister. My beautiful baby sister. She’s gone. Because I couldn’t get her the money to give her a fighting chance.”

“One of your sisters died?” Evie gasped. “That’s why you had to go home? I’m so sorry.”

“You’re part of the problem, Evie. Fuck. I don’t want to hurt you or the baby, but Sam has to pay. There has to be justice in this world. And I’ll do it, for her.”

“I don’t think you understand how important it is for Evie and the baby to get checked out right now.” Jake stepped away from Evie and Sammy, taking Derrick’s attention with him. Sam’s mind was reeling.

And then, the gun went off.

Evie screamed, the baby wailing in her arms. Sticky red rivers began to appear on the sleeve of Jake’s white dress shirt.

“Jake!” Evie cried. “Derrick, why?”

“I fucking told him to stop talking! No one leaves until I get what I came for! That’s barely a scratch. He’ll be fine.”

Jake pressed his hand over the wound and nodded, but Sam saw how ashen his face looked.

He needed to figure out what was going on, and fast. “Can you explain?—”

“YOU DON’T DESERVE AN EXPLANATION!”

Sammy continued to cry, and Derrick’s shaky hands pointed the gun towards Evie. Jake and Sam both took two steps towards each other to create a wall of protection in front of them.

“I never met your sister. I’m so sorry she’s gone, I can’t imagine that pain. But I’m not sure how I could have had a hand in her dying.”

“Because you stopped my fucking father from getting his hands on this land. If you hadn’t, that asshole would have stopped holding her care over my head! He would have given me my fair share of the land. Your father went back on his word and my family suffered for it.” Derrick’s hands shook and sweat dripped down his face. “We were going to drill this land, sell the oil and be set for life. My sister would have had the best medical care. She finally would have been able to have a good and comfortable life. But you fucking couldn’t just do what Joel agreed to in the first place. You didn’t even want this ranch after he died, but no matter what we tried, you refused to just let it go! And now, Monica is gone forever.”

“Garrett is your father?” Evie’s whispered question rocked Sam to the core.

“No. That’s not right, is it?” He didn’t want it to be true. God, how could he have been so blind to what was going on right under his nose.

Derrick nodded, and the knot in Sam’s stomach doubled in size. “So, you were working with him. This whole time? Youwere helping him steal from us? You helped him kill our cattle? You fucking told him when we were off the ranch so he could wreck Evie’s apartment? He fucking hurt her, Derrick! And I trusted you after to keep her safe!”

“Sam,” Evie warned. He looked over his shoulder at her and instantly shrank back. Silent tears were streaming down her face. She looked so fucking tired, but her eyes were pleading with him. There was nothing more important than keeping the situation calm while Derrick’s gun was still pointed at them.

“Yeah, I did all that. And you know what? I didn’t feel bad about it. Because I thought in the end, I knew I was doing the right thing for my sister.”

---